Xpertfeed

Mobile news aggregator Circa closes as media disruption continues Summary: Even news organizations without reporters are finding it hard to continue. Circa, a news aggregation service for smartphone users has closed, a further casualty in the ongoing disruption in the media industry. News app Circa, once a media darling for its mobile-first approach, has announced that it is going on an "indefinite hiatus" after it was unable to find someone to buy the company. In a Medium post entitled "Farewell to Circa News," CEO Matt Galligan admitted that while they had succeeded in their goals of making a high-quality mobile news platform, Circa had failed to become a viable business. Foremski's Take: Producing a "high-quality news platform" is hard, as Circa CEO Matt Galligan says it is but Circa had it easy, it didn't have any reporters writing original stories, it pulled together stories from several major news sites which had journalists on...

Pantech potentially saved from bankruptcy with last-minute buyer Summary: South Korea's third-largest smartphone maker may make an unlikely comeback from facing bankruptcy after a potential buyer finally showed interest before a deadline. Pantech, which has been in court receivership since August last year, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Central District Court's approval for a possible merger and acquisition with a consortium led by South Korean optical disc drive (ODD) manufacturer Optis on June 16. The two will begin a month-long cross-inspection, and will officially sign off on the acquisition on July 17, if no obstacle to the deal is found. Pantech was facing liquidation by the court after three separate talks with potential buyers failed this year. The handset maker nearly gave up, and last month filed documents to the court stating that it wished to end the court receivership, which is similar to Chapter 11 in the US, and go throug...

BlackBerry considering a move to Android after 2014 FY Summary: The former Canadian handset behemoth is reportedly weighing up its options concerning a move to Google's mobile operating system. BlackBerry is reportedly pondering putting Android on a slider phone with a physical keyboard,  according to Reuters . Sources told the wire service that the company is using Android on a handset to demonstrate the shift from its historic hardware business to one based on software and mobile device management (MDM). In recent years, BlackBerry has opened its device management and messaging services to rival platforms. "MDM has become table stakes; it is no longer a meaningful point of differentiation. The differentiation for BlackBerry in the future will be our ability to enable secure, productive mobile communications, collaboration, and other applications," BlackBerry enterprise chief John Sims said at the time. As well as handsets, the company has been loo...

Intel buys Altera for $16.7 billion Summary: Intel says it plans to integrate Alteras field-programmable gate array chips with its own Xeon processors, resulting in more flexible computing and server products. Consolidation in the semiconductor industry continues to heat up, with Intel announcing Monday that it plans to acquire Altera for $16.7 billion. Under terms of the deal, Intel will pay $54 a share in cash for the San Jose, Calif.-based Altera, which is known for making programmable logic devices and related development software. News of the acquisition comes after months of  rumored talks between the two tech companies . However in April it appeared a  deal was off the table  when Altera rejected Intel's original offer, speculated to be in the $50 per share range. With an agreement now finalized, Intel is hoping to use Altera to expand its portfolio beyond personal computing. Intel says it plans to integrate Alteras field-programmable gate arr...